Lab 2.4: Examining Windows 98 Memory Areas

Before you begin this lab, you should understand the concepts of logical memory and reserved memory. Logical memory is the way physical memory is seen by the operating system. Windows does a good job of managing system memory. The MS-DOS memory map shows the first 640KB of RAM as the user (conventional) area and the rest of the first megabyte of RAM as reserved for the computer’s needs. Windows uses memory above 1MB (expanded memory) and memory below 640KB (conventional memory) as if it were one bank of memory.

The memory area between conventional (640KB) and expanded (1024KB) is reserved for system components. This area is known as the Upper Memory Block or high memory. This area of RAM is reserved for the system board BIOS, video, and peripheral devices.

Upon completion of this lab, you will be able to:

• Use Device Manager to examine memory

• Use the System Information folder to examine memory

Set Up

For this lab, you will need a working computer with Windows 98 installed.

Exercises

In this lab, you will examine memory areas in a Windows 98 system. Windows 98 does a good job of managing system memory; however, you will have problems if the system has insufficient memory.

Using Device Manager to Examine Memory Resources

To use Device Manager to examine memory resources,

1. Use the following sequence to open the System Properties dialog box:

   Start Settings Control Panel System

2. Select the General tab in the System Properties dialog box and record the RAM:

3. Select the Device Manager tab in the System Properties dialog box and then select Computer. Click Properties and then click the Input/Output radio button. Record the communications port (COM 1) I/O address:

4. Click the Memory radio button and record the system board BIOS address (Settings):

5. Close all windows.

Using the System Information Dialog Box to Examine Memory Resources

To use the System Information dialog box to examine memory resources,

1. Use the following to open the system information dialog box:

   Start Programs Accessories System Tools System Information

2. In the System Information dialog box, click the plus sign by Hardware Resources to open the hardware tree. In the hardware tree, click I/O and record the I/O address (I/O Range) used by COM 1:

3. In the hardware tree, click Memory and record the memory addresses used by the system board BIOS:

4. In the System Information dialog box, click System Information and record the percentage of system resources that are free:

   If less than 30 percent of system resources are free, the computer may not function properly if you open an additional program.

5. Without closing the System Information dialog box, open a program such as Paint and then minimize the program:

   Start Programs Accessories Paint

6. Select System Information in the System Information dialog box, click View, and then click Refresh. Record the percentage of system resources that are free. The difference in the amount of resources listed in step 4 and step 6 are the resources used by the program you just opened.